Keyboard device for aircraft



A ril 29 1924.

K. STAHL KEYBOARD DEVICE FOR AIRCRAFT Filed June 28. 19 20 Patented Apr.29, 1924.

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KARL STAHL, OF FRIEDRICHS I-IAFEN', GERMANY, 'ASSIGNOR TO FIRM 'LU'ET-SCHIFFBA'U ZEPPELI-N GESELLSGHAFT.MIT'BESGHRANKTER HAF'IUNC', 0F FRIED.

RICHSHAFEN, GEBMANY..

KEYBOARD DEVICE FOR AIRGRAFT.

Application filed June 28, 1920. Serial No. 392,598.

(GRANTED UNDER THE rnovisronsor THE ACT or MARCH 3, 1921, 41 STAT. n,1313.

To 61% whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, KARL STAHL, a citizen of Germany, residing atFriedrichshafen a/B., Germany, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Keyboard Deyices for Aircraft (for which I have filedapplication in Germany on August 7, 19 16, Patent No. 300,603), of whichthe following is a specification. I

My invention refers to air-craft, andmore particularly to a key-boarddevice suitable for air-craft, and more especially for alrships. Airships possess numerous appliances for the purpose of regulating andaltering its bearing-capacity at will, such as tanks for dischargingballast and valves governing the escape of bearinggas. The commander ofthe air-ship must be able to bring into operation all these variousappli-.

ances, distributed over the whole of the airship, at any moment. Forthis reason the valves, ballast-tanks, etc, are connected w th akey-board device fitted in the car 0f the commanden by means of tractionwires: or some other medium for operating at a d stance, so that theycan be worked separately and independently from the keyboard. Such akey-board can be employed 111 a s milar manner for the purpose ofdropping signalrockets or bombs, or of opening the cages ofcarrier-pigeons or ripping seams, or. of operating certainsearch-lights, etc.

As the number of devices requiring manipulation and the variety of theirdistribution over the whole air-ship grows, the d1fficulty of avoidingmistakes possibly entailing consequences of the most serious nature, andoi. working the valve of a certain balloon'cell for instance, or thedischarging device of a certain ballasttank with certainty and withoutloss of time in moments of danger, increases proportionately for thecommander of the airship. Marking the levers, keys and handles withletters of the alphabet, numbers or similar designations denoting thewhat and the, where of the respective devices attached to them, does notoffer sufiicient security against misapprehensions.

It isthe object of my invention to eliminate the danger of mistakes in amanner or illustration of some kind of the air-ship. According to myinvention those parts or the air-ship and'its appurtenances which areworked fromthe key-board, such as do vices for emptying ,gas, cells and,for governing the discharge of ballast, are marked separately andindividually in the place corresponding to their respective positions inthe air-ship. In supplementing my invention the traction wires or keysserving to work the device, are arranged to suit the above.

The drawings attached to this specification and forming part thereof,illustrate by way of example two modifications oi my invention. In thedrawings Fig. 1 is a front View of a simple keyboard device fitted onthe wall of a car.

Fig. 2 is a cross-section of the key-board in the plane 22 of Fig. 1,whilst Fig. 3 is a cross-section of a key-board decomprising asketch,-picture, copy or model vice fitte'd under the roof of a car insuch a manner asto coincide with the central plane of the car.

Inthe example illustrated in Figs. 1 and 2 a box-shaped'body B is'fitted onthe port side of the car, but somewhat higher than the realwallof the bodyA of the car, approximately on a level with the eyes[ Thefront of the box B is formed by a plate of ground glass C .whic h shouldpreferably have an inclination. An elevation c of the air-ship showingthe distribution of space is delineated on the ground. glass plate. Nowlet us assume th'atthe bearing body of the air-ship in its lower portioncon tains24 ballast tank's'arranged in pairs and symmetrically withregard to the keel j linel Accordingly the diagrammatical sketch shows12 markings c which: it is advisable to number to correspond andwhichshould preferably be entered exactly on the spots in the diagramtallying with the position of the respective pairs of ballast-tanks inthe real air-ship. The valves of these tanks are connected with the keyboard by two groups d and e of 12 traction wires each.

The vertical key-board ends of the traction wires are brought down :inpairs behind the markings in sucha Way that each pair of traction-wiresis accurately'in position behind the pertinent marking 0 As a furthermeasure 'ofsafety the traction wires. are guided in thetop and bottomwalls'of the box. Handles-(03 and e) form the end of every tractionwire. Thehandles d corresponding to the starboard ballasttanks arearranged directly below theinner 'part of bottom d of the box which isneed to characterize the various markings board being embodied in thepertinent mark 0 in a particularly striking manner. A more accuratedifferentiation, however, becomes imperatively necessary, if, forinstance, large ballast-bags which are usually only dischargedgradually, and ballast-tanks designed to be emptied separately andcompletely in a moment, areprovided besides 'ballast-casks, which can bedropped separatelyas pieces in the case ,of sudden danger occurring.Such 'adiii'erentiation is achieved, according to my invention, througha reference to the peculiar function fulfilled by each device undercontrol of the keyings either by. pictorial or by spatial means. It istherefore advisable that the markings 0 should contain pictorialrepresentations of a ballast-cask, aballast-tank forrnomen-etarydischarge or a ballast bag, as the casef may require. 1 V 1 r Forfurther safety the handles (1' and 6' may have a shape corresponding tothat of the various containers of ballast. A dif ferentiation'after thismanner increases in value as the variety of functions fulfilled by thedevices under the'control of the key board grows in number. If, forinstance,

valves and ripping seams for slow or quick discharge, respectively, ofcellsare to be controlled from the key-board too, and per.-

haps search-lights and signal rockets be-j sides, then anextensivedifferentiation be comes absolutely necessary. In such a caseit appears advisable to employ not only the' sense of shape, but alsothe sense of colour as helpv in finding the various devices quickly onthe key-board. This maybe done by,

colouring all the markings for dropping ballast black, all those foremptying'gascells red, all those referring to optical signallinggreenfor instance.

Selection amongthe handles provided on the key-board is furtherfacilitated, according to my invention, by the arrangement of thehandles in groups and rows, respectively, besides employing colours forthe purpose as described-above. "it useful arrangement of the handles,for lnstance, consists in locating the handles controlling the gas-cellvalves and the rippingseams in the uppermost rows, those Working thedevices for the discharging of ballast in the: intermediate rows, whilstthose governing the bomb-dropping, apparatus range in still rows etc. Inthis way it is also. possible to arrange the controlling apparatus forall the various devices in such succession that 'it agrees with theactual facts and with'the representation given in the diagram on thekey-board. A further advantage gained by such a grouping as described,consists in keeping the size of the key-board downand: in not beingobliged to reduce the size of the handles, keys, etc, too far.

Bymeans of sucha key-board arrangement a commander, on taking command ofanair-ship, can tell immediately and with a single glance what means forfulfilling a given purpose he: has availablein the various parts of hisvessel. a In order to retain a clear view of affairs even on a long tripand after various usingof some of the devices has taken place, with outhaving to rely on memory, indicating contrivances are provided inaccordance with 7 the invention. These indicating contrivancescome into;action as soon asthe jpertinent handle is pulled; they announce whetheracertain ballast-tank for momentary: E discharge has been pulled, i. e.,

emptied, or whether a certain bomb has been dropped, or whether the rearlights are switched off or on,etc., As'far as devices are concernedwhichare only operated once,

such as those for dropping ballast-casks, etc., the indicatingcontrivance can consist simply of a signal plate whichcovers up themarking in the diagram on thekeyboard or some other means ofcharacterizing the marking in question. as being no longeravailable. If,however, devices used repeatedly, such as the valves of ballast bags forinstance, are under consideration, then the indicating contrivance mustgive in formation as to how much the device in question'can still beused; a shifting scale or something similar would comply withthe case.The detailed design of the contrivances indicating whether a certaindevice has already been used or not, depends on the purpose to which thedevice in question is devoted and does not form part of this also beused which it is advisable to makev transparent and locate in thecentral plane of the car. This second example will be readily understoodfrom the drawing Fig. 3 in connection with the above explanations. Sucha. model is recommended especially for cases where more than two deviceswhich have to be operated from the keyboard, are contained in one andthe same cross-section or where devices are concerned which are onlyused in the most extreme danger and then only in groups, if possible.

My invention is not restricted to use in air-ships only. It can beapplied most advantageously for instance to the modern giant flyingmachines with their manifold devices for signalling, dropping, as wellas Working and controlling their plant and appliances.

I claim:

1. In an aircraft in combination, a plurality of appliances adapted tobe actuated from a distance, a control board, a reproduction of thecraft connected with said control board means connected with saidreproduction for marking thereon the positions of said appliances in thecraft and means extending in front of each mark for actuating one ofsaid appliances.

2. In an aircraft in combination, a plurality of appliances adapted tobe actuated from a distance, a control board,areproduction of the craftconnected with said cone trol board means of different configurationconnected with said reproduction for marking thereon the positions ofsaid appliances in the craft and means extending in front of eachmarkfor actuating one of said appliances.

3. In an aircraft in combination, different groups of appliances adaptedto be actuated from a distance, a control board, a reproduction of thecraft connected with said control board, separate means of differentconfiguration connected with said reproduction for marking thereon thepositions of the different groups of appliances in the craft and meansextending in front of each mark for actuating one of said appliances.

4. In an aircraft in combination, different groups of appliances adaptedto be actuated from a distance, a control board, a reproduction of thecraft connected with said control board, separate means of differentconfiguration connected with said reproduction for marking thereon thepositions of the different groups of appliances in the craft, meansextending in front of each mark for actuating one of said appliances andmeans connected with said reproduction for indicating the operativecondition of each appliance.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature.

KARL STAHL.

